


A.K.

by atomicstrawbrys



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gakuen, Alternate Universe - High School, Hetalia, M/M, UKUS, USUK - Freeform, and alfred believes in love at first sight, in which arthur is a walking hot topic ad, this is purely self indulgent, transtalia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21525859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomicstrawbrys/pseuds/atomicstrawbrys
Summary: Alfred is a high school star with everything he could possibly want- until a student comes from England and suddenly becomes priority number one. USUK. High school AU.
Relationships: America/England (Hetalia)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

Alfred had gotten to school late the day he fell in love. He’d had a doctor’s appointment that morning, checking on the arm he’d broken a few weeks prior. Arm in a cast and cast in a sling, Alfred walked into the doors of his high school two periods late, note in hand to excuse his partial absence. 

He’d managed to catch the school in between classes, so students shuffled along the halls as he entered, a few giving courteous nods or friendly smiles as they made eye contact. Alfred was beloved by many- resident wonder athlete and science geek, he made himself popular with most student groups, and even those outside his social sphere at least regarded him as a good guy. Alfred was an all-arounder in every sense of the word, and he prided himself on the fact that there wasn’t a person in his life that didn’t seem to like him. Well, except maybe for his brother’s boyfriend Ivan, but he lived in Russia for half the year so he really didn’t count.

Speaking of his brother, Alfred noticed Matthew approaching him, waving as blonde curls bounced lightly on his shoulders. “Al! You made it!”

“ ‘Course I did, Matt! Mom, let one of us miss a day of school? I’m pretty sure she’d make us go if we were dying, so this was nothin’.” Alfred laughed, elbowing Matthew with his good arm. “So, did I miss anything?” He asked, walking down the hall with him to put some of his stuff in his locker. 

“Actually, yeah.” Matthew shrugged. “Some new guy got here today- he’s all the way from England, can you believe that? I don’t know his name, though- he was only in one of my classes and I sort of forgot...he’s kinda weird, though, I don’t know- you’ll see what I mean.”

Alfred chuckled. “Weirder than you? This I gotta see.”

He walked up to his locker, and, after twisting the combination, he opened it up and dropped some of his things off. He waved as Matthew left to get his own books and head to his next class, and as he waved he noticed that the locker to his right no longer seemed unoccupied. Previously a plain grey, the locker now wore one sticker, a plain white rectangle with the initials “A.K.” printed in black font. “A.K.,” huh? He smiled. Apparently, he’d be seeing this new guy a lot. 

Before he could, though, the bell for third period rang, and he slammed his locker shut and ran the rest of his way to class. 

He settled down in his seat, a worn out, scratched up desk right beside his best friend.

“Hey, Gil.” He whispered, grinning. 

“Alfred! You made it.” Gilbert playfully punched his shoulder. “For a while there I thought you might have abandoned me today.” 

Alfred snorted, waving a hand to quiet him down. “Come on, man, I wouldn’t. Hey, listen- you know anything about this A.K. guy? The one from England? Matthew said something about him earlier, and I gotta say, anyone that that syrup-guzzling freak thinks is weird has sparked my interest.” 

“Oh, yeah! I do- I ran into him on the way in. And I mean literally ran into him. I knocked all his shit on the ground, and you should have heard the fancy British curses he threw at me!” Gilbert laughed. “I gotta remember some of those, man, he was creative.”

Settling into silence, Alfred spent most of his class mulling over what he knew about the oh-so-mysterious A.K. He was from England, he was...weird, apparently, and he had a temper on him. None of these sounded like particularly good personality traits, and though Alfred did hope that he was wrong and that this guy would turn out to be alright, he had his doubts. Having yet another student come in from another country was certainly interesting, though, even if his school did get a disproportionate amount of foreign students both temporary and permanent.

It seemed that he just kept barely missing A.K. throughout the day, as each time he would go to gather his things there would be a new sticker on the locker next door. A.K. was putting one on between each period. First was a sticker of the Loch Ness Monster, and Alfred could appreciate the elusive A.K.’s interest in cryptozoology. Hell, he was almost a cryptid himself, the way he drifted in and out without being seen, leaving only traces of his presence behind. Next came the rainbow flag sticker- Alfred didn’t have to guess what that meant. He did, however, have to look up the sticker that came after that, a similar flag with two pink stripes, two blue, and one white. The sticker after that was for a band Alfred didn’t recognize, but the last sticker, a monster that Alfred recognized from one of his favorite shows, indicated that perhaps he and A.K had at least a few common interests. 

When he approached his locker after his last class, he found himself walking just a little faster to try and catch his slippery neighbor before he went home. As he approached his locker, he saw that the one beside it was open, A.K. standing in front of it. The locker door obscured him from view, but Alfred could see black ripped jeans and heavy, heavy boots tipped with steel. 

“Uh, Hey!” He greeted, lightly knocking on the locker door. “I uh, haven’t met you yet! Name’s Alfred!” 

The stranger behind the door jumped and slammed it shut. He turned, and Alfred’s eyes widened. The world around him muffled and faded into irrelevance- the only thing worth paying attention to was the boy in front of him- with his black top and huge purple jacket, fur collar so large it tickled the bottoms of his ears. His head was a half-shaved mess of natural, sandy blond and dyed lavender, and his face- god, his face, all freckles and piercings and black lipstick, and beautiful, downright gorgeous green eyes accentuated by rings of black eyeliner. A.K was magnificent, in every sense of the word, and Alfred found himself suddenly not so heterosexual. 

“Can I help you?” The angel’s voice reached Alfred’s ears, and he giggled like an idiot before he could stop himself. This seemed to be a bad move, though, as A.K scowled at him, pulling on his backpack and stuffing his hands in his pockets. He started to push past him, but Alfred placed a hand on his shoulder before he could go. 

“Wait-! Uh, I’m sorry- I’m not laughing at you, I just- what’s your name?”

A.K. seemed skeptical, raising a thick eyebrow in Alfred’s direction.

“...Arthur. Now, I really must be going home. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, uh, Albert.” He shrugged Alfred’s hand off and shuffled down the hall, students naturally giving him a wide berth as he went.

Alfred, a lovestruck fool, sighed longingly and leaned against his locker, a hand clutched over his heart. Giggling again, he whispered.

“He almost knows my name!”


	2. Chapter 2

The moment Alfred and Matthew got home from school, Alfred wrenched his brother out from behind the wheel and into their house. He tugged him all the way upstairs to his room, shutting the door behind them and locking it.

“Matt, you gotta help me,” He pleaded, Matthew’s eyes widening at his brother’s distress.

Panicked, Matthew guided Alfred to his bed, kneeling in front of him and creasing his brow with worry. “What, what is it? Al, is it your arm? Did something happen? Did you get into a fight with Gil or something? Did you get into some kind of trouble?” 

“I, I like someone!”

Matthew immediately deflated, his worry replaced with relief and a slight twinge of annoyance. “Oh, gosh- is that all? Just tell her, man, everyone at that school likes you, I doubt she’ll say no.”

“But, but- It’s a guy!” Alfred wailed, burying his face in his hand as he whimpered. 

This tidbit of information caught Matthew’s interest, his brother perking up and tilting his head.

“I thought you were straight-?” He questioned, Alfred’s head first nodding, then shaking furiously. 

“Apparently not! And I just don’t know what to do, he’s so perfect, you know?”

“No, I don’t know.” Matthew sighed, sitting on the bed beside Alfred and rubbing his back, trying to comfort him. “Uh...who is it, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“You uh, you know that new guy from England, well his name is Arthur and he-”

“Wait, wait, Al, seriously?” Matthew dissolved into a fit of laughter, hand trembling against Alfred’s back as he wheezed and wiped a tear from his eye. “The walking Hot Topic catalog? You’re into that kinda thing? To each their own, I guess…” He elbowed him, and Alfred pouted.

“Whatever...just tell me what you did to get Ivan to go out with you- I really, really like him, Matt, like, love at first sight kinda stuff. I’ve never felt this way about anybody before, not even my ex-girlfriends..”

“Well, yikes, don’t let any of them hear you say that..” Matthew murmured, and he got to his feet. “First of all, Ivan asked me out. Secondly, he just told me how he felt and invited me to go on a date. You should just be straightforward with him if you feel so strongly, okay?”

“I guess…”

“Great! Then my work here is done. I’m gonna get a soda from the fridge, you want anything?”

Alfred shook his head, and with that Matthew left, wishing him luck with his inner crisis.

Alfred laid back on his bed, closing his eyes. Yeah, sure, being straightforward might have worked with someone like Matthew- Matthew wasn’t one for frills and gimmicks, but Arthur seemed...eccentric. A simple confession just wouldn’t be good enough for him, so he would have to do better. 

So, the next morning, Alfred pestered Matthew to take him to school early, still not keen on attempting to drive with one arm. He went inside while Matthew slept in the back seat of his truck. Armed with a dry erase marker and some wildflowers from his backyard, Alfred went to Arthur’s locker. He slipped the flowers in through the slats, and then with the dry erase marker he wrote on the front:

“Roses are red,  
I think you’re great,  
You’re pretty cute,  
So let’s go on a date! :)”

Giggling to himself and pleased with his poem, Alfred went back out to the truck to wait.

Within the next half hour, students began arriving at school, but Alfred waited until he saw that familiar mess of blonde and lavender walking up the sidewalk. He hurried to meet him before he got inside the school. 

“Hey, Arthur! Mind if I walk with you?” He grinned, keeping pace with God’s gift to humanity. Arthur only shrugged in reply, yawning and reapplying some dark lipstick onto his lower lip. Oh, if only Alfred could be covered in black lipstick marks left by Arthur- like on tv, where the main character is smooched all over by their love interest, and then are left blushing and decorated with lipstick kisses. He felt his heart squeeze in his chest, and he hoped the poem and the flowers would convince Arthur to give him a chance. 

Once they reached their lockers, Alfred nonchalantly opened his own, waiting to see how Arthur reacted. He couldn’t wait to see him blush and wonder who his secret admirer could be, and then Alfred would reveal himself and it would be perfect- it would be a confession worthy of someone as wonderful as Arthur. 

Arthur went to open his locker, but he paused, reading the poem. He skimmed it only once, then rolled his eyes and wiped it off with his handkerchief. Alfred’s stomach dropped, but he didn’t have time to feel sorry for himself before Arthur opened his locker, and the wildflowers came spilling out. 

“Oh my GOD!” Arthur shrieked with alarm and jumped back, though he was already too late. He began sneezing, his eyes puffing and turning red. Exposed skin broke out, and both his eyes and nose ran. He doubled over, sneezes interspersed with gross coughing. He had turned a lot of heads with his reaction, and it wasn’t but a few moments before someone came back with a teacher, who ushered Arthur away and to the nurse. 

Alfred had stood there, frozen in shock during the display. He felt just awful- he’d wanted to ask Arthur out, and instead, he’d annoyed him and then given him a fucking allergic reaction! He just..hoped Arthur would be okay.

There was an empty desk in Alfred’s first two periods, and he supposed that was where Arthur would have sat had Alfred exercised a little self-control. He didn’t see him again until lunch, and although his face was still a bit red, he seemed more or less alright. He was sitting alone, so Alfred slid in the seat next to him, looking down at his lunch tray.

“You uh...you alright? You really scared me earlier, ha, I was...I thought you were gonna die or something.”

Arthur shrugged and pulled his jacket hood over his head. “...M’allergic to flowers. Really allergic.”

“Yeah, yeah, I could tell,” Alfred replied, and though he cursed himself for such a rude remark, Arthur gave a soft chuckle in response. 

“...Yeah. Well. Thanks for worrying, Alex. Whoever left them also wrote this really stupid poem on my locker, too, so I guess they were trying to be ‘romantic,’ or whatever.” Arthur framed the word ‘romantic’ with air quotes, rolling his eyes. 

“Yeah...stupid,” Alfred replied, pushing some food on his tray around with his fork. “And uh, it’s Alfred, actually..” 

“Hm? Oh, sorry, Archie.”

Alfred didn’t bother to correct him again. He also didn’t bother eating much and got up from lunch early, leaving the cafeteria under the guise of going to the bathroom. He went to Arthur’s locker instead, the door still hanging open as wildflowers lay both inside and on the floor in front of it. Alfred cleaned all of them up and wiped everything down, making sure not to leave even a trace of pollen that could possibly cause Arthur any more harm.

After he was done, he shut the locker door quietly, staring at the empty space where his poem once was. Getting out his dry erase marker, he wrote again. Then, he returned to the cafeteria just before the bell and went to his next class. 

At the end of the day, he was gathering his things to go home, when Arthur approached cautiously. He looked around, noticing that the flowers were gone, and breathed a sigh of relief. Reaching for his combination lock, Arthur’s arm stopped in midair, and he read the poem.

“Violets are blue  
I’m still after your heart,  
I’m sorry about the flowers,  
But I hope cleaning them up is a start.”

Arthur, still seeming skeptical, opened the door and peered inside. He looked around for the faintest trace of flowers- a petal, a leaf, but he could find nothing. Contented, he got his things and shut the door. He again wiped the poem away with his handkerchief, but this time Alfred thought that perhaps he caught the faintest hint of a smile on Arthur’s lips before he did so. 

Alfred felt a weight lift off his shoulders, and as he left the school and caught up with Matthew, he couldn’t help but grin.


	3. Chapter 3

“You did what?!” Gilbert laughed, pounding his fist against Alfred’s bedroom wall as he laughed. “Jesus, Al, I always thought you lacked some common sense, but you gave him an allergic reaction?!”

Alfred felt his cheeks redden, and he turned away. “Yeah, well, it’s not like I meant to! I thought, I dunno, I thought it would be romantic!” He whined. Alfred had invited Gilbert over after school and confided both about his crush and his failed attempt to woo him, and he was beginning to think that doing so had been a mistake.

Gilbert’s shrieking laughter started up anew, and he fell back against Alfred’s bed. “Alfred, you are the biggest goddamned idiot I’ve ever met!”

Alfred exhaled, lying beside him on the bed. He stared up at the ceiling, examining the faded and admittedly tacky poster of a ‘hot cheerleader.’ He remembered being attracted to this once, but the model’s candy-apple red lips and bright blue eyes didn’t do it for him anymore. His thoughts wandered to a radioactive green swathed in deep purples and mysterious blacks, and a blush rose to his cheeks. His voice grew soft.

“What if I’m in love with him, Gil?”

Gil paused, for once taking a moment to mull the idea over. “Well, maybe, but I don’t think so…I think that to love someone, you gotta know ‘em, and you don’t really know anything about this guy.”

“But I-”

“No, you don’t. You might think you do, you might think you wanna be with him forever, but that’s just called being horny, man.” Gilbert laughed, and Alfred elbowed him.

“Gilbert-!” Alfred groaned.

“Just hear me out! Listen, Antonio, Francis and I are going to a movie after school tomorrow. Tell ya what, you and Arthur can come along. We’ll even make sure you sit together, provided he wants to come. You can get to know him some more, see if you really do like him, and you’ll be with friends, so it won’t be as awkward.”

“That…sounds good, actually. What kinda movie is it?”

Gilbert smirked. “Horror.”

“You’ve GOT to be kidding me!”

Gilbert just laughed.

The next morning, Alfred approached Arthur’s locker before first period, clearing his throat to get his attention.

“Uh, h-hey,” He smiled, and Arthur acknowledged him with a nod.

“Andrew. I hope the morning’s been well.”

“Oh, uh, sure.” Alfred ignored that Arthur had managed to get his name wrong yet again. He could always correct him at the theater. “I uhm, wanted to ask you something.”

At this, Arthur paused, and though he still wouldn’t look at Alfred, his tone did seem a little more interested.

“What is it?”

“Do you…want to go see a movie with me? It’s uh, Attack of the Mutant Zombies Four. You’ll love it! So…will you come?” Alfred asked, wringing his hands in front of himself. “I think you’d have fun, a-and you should see the town some, with you being new and all..”

Arthur shut the door to his locker and turned to face Alfred, looking up at him. Alfred gulped.

“So…this is a date, then?” Arthur tilted his head, eyebrows furrowing.

“NO! Nonono- God, no, Some of my friends are coming too! You can meet some more people, have some fun, whaddaya say?” Giving him a crooked smile, Alfred crossed his fingers behind his back.

Arthur looked down, tugging on one of his many ear piercings. His lip drew into an adorable pout, but it disappeared almost as soon as Alfred noticed it. “I guess I could go. I’ll text my brother and tell him I’ll be late. Thanks for the invitation. I have to get to class- I’ll meet you here when school lets out.”

And with that he was gone, leaving Alfred to bask in the euphoria of acceptance.

He was going to hang out with Arthur!

True to his word, Arthur met up with Alfred in front of their lockers. Francis, Gilbert, and Antonio were there too, and Matthew had even decided to tag along, pretending not to notice the smitten looks Gilbert always gave him whenever he was around.

“Alfred? Do you and Arthur want to ride with me?” Matthew asked, jingling the keys to his truck. “We can split three up in each car, so no one has to ride alone.”

After looking to Arthur for a curt nod of approval, Alfred agreed, and when they climbed into the back seat of Matthew’s truck, he could only hope that his heart wasn’t beating too loudly.

Matthew was quiet as he drove- he always was, so Alfred took the opportunity to ask Arthur a few questions. He did want to get to know him, after all, and right now he had his attention all to himself.

“So! England, that’s pretty cool. Why’d you move to some dumpy old town in America?”

Arthur frowned at the question, looking out the window and watching the power lines go by. “Dad said the change of scenery would be good. I’m here with him and my older brother. His name is Alistair. My brother, I mean. Not my dad. His name is Calum.”

“So…what about your mom?” Alfred scooted a little closer, and Arthur tensed, quickly putting his hood over his face.

“She didn’t…accept me, I guess. She ‘n dad divorced over it and now I’m here. I don’t want to talk about her.”

“Okay, okay…” Alfred bit his lip, lightly patting Arthur’s shoulder. “M’sorry. I shouldn’t have been pushy. I hope you like it here, though.” Alfred gave him a small smile, catching Arthur’s gaze. “I uh, I think you’re really cool, Arthur.

For just a moment, Alfred thought he caught a hint of red blooming on Arthur’s face, but the hood was shoved down further and he turned away again.

“Yeah. Thanks, Arnold.” Arthur mumbled.

Alfred only sighed and shot an exasperated smile over to Matthew.

Gilbert and the others were already waiting for them inside the theater when they walked in, tickets in hand. Alfred had paid for Arthur’s, and though he was certain Arthur noticed, he didn’t say anything. He also got two sodas and a large popcorn, just in case, though Arthur did have to help him carry it all.

The ticket vendor took each of them in turn, tearing their tickets and repeating the same monotone “Second door on the left” whenever one of them passed through. Alfred and Arthur were the last to do this, the other four walking ahead of them. Arthur didn’t seem to be in a hurry, though, so Alfred kept pace with him. Once they reached the door he started to gesture to it, only to notice Arthur staring at the sign for another showing, which had started only a few minutes ago. “Love at First Sight” was the title, and Alfred supposed it must be a romance.

“…Do you….want to go see that instead?” Alfred asked, Arthur jolting as he realized he’d been noticed.

“No, no, I..it’s okay. You want to go to the other one, and all your friends are in there…” He rubbed his arm, suddenly seeming very small.

Alfred glanced back at the other screening room, then back at Arthur.

“…It’s okay.” Alfred smiled, his voice soft. “I like romance, too. We can catch up with them after.”

For the first time since he’d met Arthur, Alfred watched as his crush smiled fully, up to his eyes. Unlike the simple amused grins and smirks he’d caught before, this smile was purely genuine, and Alfred felt his heart ache over it.

“Well, then. I guess we’d better go in before we miss any more previews. I love watching the trailers.” Arthur waved him along and opened the door to the screening room, sodas still tucked carefully in the crook of one arm.

They found a seat in the center of the room. There weren’t many others around- apparently, the movie they’d given up was far more popular. Still, Alfred couldn’t bring himself to care. He shot off a quick text to Matthew to let him know that they’d catch up after, then turned his phone off so he could enjoy Arthur’s company, as well as the film.

In all honesty, Alfred didn’t remember much of the movie. He was sure it was good, though, as it kept Arthur entertained for the whole duration. Alfred, however, could only look at him, and when their hands brushed in the popcorn bucket, he couldn’t help but sigh at the way Arthur’s fingertips gently ghosted along his palm before pulling away.

Yes, he was very glad they’d seen this movie instead.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to continue this series, so if that's something you'd want, please comment to let me know!


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